What are Age Group Motivational Time Standards

Time standards are used as a tool to motivate swimmers.  Swimmers can use these times to set goals for a season and give them away to compare themselves to other swimmers of the same age and sex.  The time standards are also used to limit the number of entries in a swim meet and to allow swimmers to compete against swimmers of the same abilities.

Current time standards can be found here on the Southern California Swimming website.

USA Swimming time standards defined:

  • ​AAAA – This standard means your swimmer is ranked in the top 2% of swimmers in their age group, their same-sex, in that stroke and distance.
  • AAA - This standard means your swimmer is ranked in the top 6% of swimmers in their age group, their same-sex, in that stroke and distance.
  • AA - This standard means your swimmer is ranked in the top 8% of swimmers in their age group, their same-sex, in that stroke and distance.
  • A - This standard means your swimmer is ranked in the top 15% of swimmers in their age group, their same-sex, in that stroke and distance.
  • BB - This standard means your swimmer is ranked in the top 35% of swimmers in their age group, their same-sex, in that stroke and distance
  • B - This standard means your swimmer is ranked in the top 55% of swimmers in their age group, their same-sex, in that stroke and distance.
  • C - This standard is for all swimmers with times below the "B" standard. Everything from 0.00 up to the "B" standard is a "C" time.

How are the time standards determined?

Age Group motivational standards are set on a four-year (quad) basis.  The current time standards are for the 2021 to 2024 time period.  The motivational times are based on the historical fastest 16th place seed time of the Top 16 swimmers in that age group for each year in the previous cycle. For exact details on how they are calculated please see this Swim Swam article.

How do motivational times factor into swim meets?

All swim meets have some form of time standards.  Those standards are published in the meet form that accompanies each meet and can typically be found on the registration page for that particular meet under details.  You may also see an indicator of what the time standards are for each meet by looking at the name. 

Let's look at this example from a recent meet. The name of the meet was “STAR BC Meet Short Course” you can tell that this is a meet that is being hosted by STAR Aquatics, it is a Short Course Meet and that it is open to swimmers with B or C times.  That means if you had a “BB” time or faster you could not swim in this meet. This can also be seen in the meet file to confirm what the time standards are for this meet (See example A)

 

Here is another example of a meet that is open to "A", "B", and "C" Swimmers.  However there are some limitations as to what events a "C" swimmer can swim.  For example B 7-10 Girls 50-meter Backstroke any swimmer could swim this event.  However, in the Boys, 7-10 100-meter Breaststroke (Example C) only a "B" or a better swimmer could swim this event. The good news is that when you or a coach signs up a swimmer for an event the system checks to make sure the swimmer is eligible to swim the event!  If you ever have any questions about what events your swimmer should be swimming please contact your coach and they will provide you with more information.

Awards

In nonchampionship meets swimmers will be competing with other swimmers that fall into the same time standard division.  Swimmers with “C” times will be competing for 1st place amongst other “C” ranked swimmers. “B” and BB” swimmers will be competing against each other and all “A, AA, AAA, AAAA” swimmers will be competing against each other.  Note that they will all swim at the same time and are only divided up and placed after the event has swum. So in an event with A, B, and C swimmers, there will be 3 - 1st places, 3 - 2nd places, and so on.

Championship Meets

In Age Group Swimming there are also some championship meets that have their own qualifying time standards that fall somewhere in the "A" or better time standards.  You can find those standards here.  These are the meets that the swimmers want to go to.

  • Short Course Yards

    • Winter Age Group Championships - WAG - Early December
    • Spring Junior Olympics - Springs JO's - Early Mach (14 years old and under)
  • Long Course Meters
    • June Age Group Invite - JAG - Early June
    • Summer Junior Olympics - Summer JO's - Late July

Where Do I Find My Swimmers Times

There are several places to find your swimmers times;

What are Blue, Red, and White Times Standards

Southen California Swimming used to have its own set of time standards Those time standards have been phased out and the USA Swimming Motivational Time Standards have been adopted. While the two standards do not line up, White Times were similar to "C" Times, Red was like "B" Times and Blue Times were similar to "A" Times.

Final Thought

It is very important to note that swimmers will have different time standards for different strokes and different distances.  Be patient with your swimmer all swimmers develop both mentally and physically at different rates.  Always set realistic expectations with your child. An “AAAA” time standard is only achieved by 2% of the swimmers. If you ever have any questions on how your swimmer is progressing please talk with your swimmer's coach.